Loose Baggage Door

[Ragsf15e]

Rainy day, was out at the hangar cleaning the airplane and saw something that didn’t look right.  I was cleaning the top near the baggage door and the hinge looked loose. Maybe the last 3 or 4 hinges weren’t exactly lined up.  Went around and looked from the other side and found a good few inches of the wire pulled through.  Not sure how that happens, and I’m guessing door departure wasn’t imminent, but it didn’t feel good.  I got it pushed back in and will have to keep an eye on it.

[Hank]

Nice catch! Now I feel the sudden need to check mine . . .  

[PT20J]

Good catch. I suspect that a loose or broken piano hinge pin is what allows the door to detach if opens in flight.

[EricJ]

That's pretty much all you can do with those;  keep an eye on it and tap it back in if it creeps out.

[cliffy]

Many times the wire is cut slightly short of the full length of the hinge and the last "loop" it goes through is 

crimped down slightly to keep the wire from working its way out. This does make it a little harder to remove the wire 

if ever needed but its not too difficult. 

[Ragsf15e]

1 hour ago, cliffy said:

Many times the wire is cut slightly short of the full length of the hinge and the last "loop" it goes through is 

crimped down slightly to keep the wire from working its way out. This does make it a little harder to remove the wire 

if ever needed but its not too difficult. 

I was almost thinking it should be slightly longer than needed and the ends bent over so it couldn’t pull through.  I’ll be keeping a closer eye on it for now and see how much it migrates.

[GeeBee]

https://www.eaa.org/eaa/aircraft-building/builderresources/while-youre-building/building-articles/cowlings/the-installation-and-use-of-piano-hinges

[cliffy]

5 hours ago, Ragsf15e said:

I was almost thinking it should be slightly longer than needed and the ends bent over so it couldn’t pull through.  I’ll be keeping a closer eye on it for now and see how much it migrates.

Being piano wire you ain't gonna be able to bend it. :-)

[kortopates]

7 hours ago, cliffy said:

Being piano wire you ain't gonna be able to bend it. :-)

Its not easy, but it bends; especially with a vice. I did exactly like the EAA article on my 2 inner gear doors. But didn't do that on the baggage gear door because it didn't seem to have the room for it and keep the wire out of sight.

Edited March 25, 2024 by kortopates

[Schllc]

I think there should be a small hook or bend at the leading edge of the hinge  to prevent  this 

[PT20J]

I'll have to look again, but I recall on my J the pin is captive somehow -- maybe a crimp in the last hinge loop. I was going to see if I could pull the pin to remove the door to replace the door seal and decided it was going to be impossible.

[Ragsf15e]

1 hour ago, PT20J said:

I'll have to look again, but I recall on my J the pin is captive somehow -- maybe a crimp in the last hinge loop. I was going to see if I could pull the pin to remove the door to replace the door seal and decided it was going to be impossible.

It does seem to be sort of “captive” due to the curvature of the baggage door.  Mine was approximately 2.5 inches out of the hinge, but it didn’t appear that it could easily get farther due to the curvature of the baggage door opening.  The part of the hinge without wire was noticeably loose though.  I guess I’ll think about crimping the last loop, but I suspect there’ll be some reason that’s a bad idea too… probably right after I do it.

[kortopates]

Crimpy the last loop is popular method, there is very little space after the last loop to do much of anything else. But its still possible to remove the piano wire from the hinge to pull of the door. Not something many would do unless replacing a damaged door.

[A64Pilot]

On 3/25/2024 at 9:13 PM, kortopates said:

Crimpy the last loop is popular method, there is very little space after the last loop to do much of anything else. But its still possible to remove the piano wire from the hinge to pull of the door. Not something many would do unless replacing a damaged door.

Crimp or using a pointed punch you can partially collapse the end barrel, the punch method looks better and is more easily overcome to remove the wire.

As opposed to bending I’ve seen collars used, the type that’s used to hold model airplane wheels on landing gear. They come in different sizes of course.

https://www.amazon.com/RiToEasysports-Airplane-Stainless-Exquisite-Craftsmanship/dp/B0BR5D55C7/ref=asc_df_B0BR5D55C7/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=663370313222&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12415214475177995436&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9011535&hvtargid=pla-2253726245277&psc=1&mcid=c65d4b728afe3a98ad209527ab1398f3

Then if you need to remove the wire you can use a punch and tap enough of it out to get ahold of it.

More useful on longer hinges but once you get enough wire sticking out to chuck it in a drill, spray the hinge with penetrating oil and the drill will walk the pin out very easy without damaging anything, some aircraft leading edges are held on with a hinge and the drill makes a tough job easy. Way back in the last Century I learned the drill trick pulling the tail rotor drive shaft covers off of UH-1’s.